Overweight Nurse?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hello all, this is my first post to the site so I'm a bit nervous but I want some real answers from those in the field, and I don't want it sugar-coated as some of my friends/family may have been doing.

Long story short: I am morbidly obese (over 300 lbs) and have been working on getting in better shape over the past year. While I have lost some weight, it's a slow process. The reason for my recent determination, aside from WANTING to be healthier, is that I want to be a nurse (with all my heart) and I do not want my weight to limit me in providing top quality care to anyone. I also know the perceptions people have of obese people in the medical field (not to mention anywhere else).

In the meantime, I am just finishing up on my pre-nursing classes this coming Fall and have applied to the Nursing program (will find out by October if accepted).

My question: I am wondering if there is anyone else on this site that is an overweight nurse and what struggles they may or may not have. For those who are not overweight, are there any immediate issues you see with someone of my size?

Thank you for your honesty and any words of wisdom you may have. :)

Specializes in School, LTC, OB, LNC, Instructor, etc.

Dizzyelizzy,

If you wonder how nurses could be overweight, it is because they don't get to eat a meal, with the shortage of nurses that is not addressed, and they can't leave their patients, sometimes for more than a shift, if no one comes to let you go home.

Therefore, sorry to say that we kind of graze. stuff something small in your mouth when you can. I was a size 8 before I became a nurse, but I used to eat right and after becoming a nurse especially on the off shifts where you are it, the only nurse on the floor, that does you in. For infection purposes we can not eat at the nurses desk. So what do you do, sometimes by the time you get to eat you are famished and eat things that are available.

The other area that is an issue is the bladder. If you don't eat, you can't get to the bathroom, sometimes you can if the supervisor comes by for report, you beg to use the bathroom. I used to say just catherize us and we would be fine. So now it is the weight and the bladder that is issues.

There has got to be a better way but after 34 years, nothing has changed, except now they are not hiring nurses to fill the spots, not because there are none but because the facilities have no money to hire because of costs and insurance reimbursment, or lack of it and people who don't have insurance and the hospital eats the costs.

I guess I gave you more than you expected but if you see the whole picture it might make it easier to understand about weight. As far as smoking, no excuse, I don't, never did, never will.

Good luck to all that are trying, we always give before we take, our patients are always first.

Ok...so I have one for yall. I am 438 pounds, pre diabetic and hypertensive male. What are my chances that an admissions committee would accept me, and how would I fare on the nursing floor?

Specializes in Med/surg, ER/ED,rehab ,nursing home.

You would likely have a problem working the floor. It is busy, on your feet all the time. Your weight would eventually interfere with your ability to care for your patient. So many IV's, Vents, and the like really make it crowded in some rooms. Perhaps pscyh would be what you could do. I would attempt working as a tech on a floor, so you could to see how you can hold up. I should know because I , too, am overweight, though not your size. It wears on you over time. Good Luck. Look into admission requirements. You have to be able to meet those.

Thanks for the info. My main goal was to go the psych. prac. route. I had just applied to some doctoral programs in clinical psych. and as many of you know it is grossly competitive and I was rejected. I know the psyc. prac. route has more flexibility in treating mental illness, you could even gain comparable skills in therapy in addition to pharmacological therapy. Would a direct MSN route be best for me? I have been considering going the PA route, but they seem to just be starting off getting into the mental health world vs. NPs. My only concern is that I will be moving to Florida this summer, my plan was to work a year to establish residency, then take the remaining nurse pre-reqs at Broward College and attend either FAU or FIU for a second BSN, then move up to the northeast when my husband gets done with the Pharm.D. to do a second master's in nursing to be a psych. NP. My main worry is, if I do the BSN route, do you think I could survive the physical rigor as a BSN student given my size? I have no intentions working in a high or fast-paced nursing unit at all.

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